Bengaluru, Feb 28: She may have been a fierce activist-journalist for many but Gauri Lankesh was a dear friend for film-maker Pradeep KP, who has made a documentary on the slain editor.
Pradeep said he was left numb when he received the news of Lankesh's murder on the night of September 5 but he did not want to make a documentary. He changed his mind when he saw people come out in her support.
"I didn't want to do it. My crew had started shooting when they reached Gauri's home after the news broke out. The next day when I entered the social media space, I saw this hatred for her from people who didn't even know her.
"But when I saw, scores of people coming forward in protests for Gauri, I thought I should make the film," he said while addressing a full-house screening of "Our Gauri" at the 10th BIFFES last evening.
The film, which begins with people protesting against the killing and is then interspersed with interviews of people close to Lankesh both personally and professionally, was showcased under the 'Resistance' section along with five other presentations. The director said the team dug out shots from a footage of 700 hours and shot for 22 days, non-stop.
"Whatever she stood for, the voice, got stronger after her death," he said.
Pradeep, who was Lankesh's friend for over 16 years and was a part of her campaigns and travels, believes there is still a lot that is left unsaid and he hopes to make a bigger film eventually.
"I still have a lot to say and there was a need to slow down the pace of the film at some places. At that time, I had to bring this out. In two years time, I'll do a larger film on her entire travels over the years in Karnataka. There is so much footage that I haven't even used in this documentary. But I need time for that," he said
Pradeep also said that Gauri Lankesh Patrike is going to continue as people trust the newspaper's voice.
"We are thinking of March 8 as the launch date. We still haven't got the final confirmation on the title.
"It will definitely come out before Karnataka Assembly elections as the paper played a major role in the state politics. We can't stop that legacy. There's a trust that's been formed."
Other documentaries shown in the section were "Qandeel", on Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch who was strangulated to death by her brother for 'bringing dishonour' to the family and Indian film, "I am Bonnie" on an ace footballer Bonnie Paul, formerly known as Bandana Paul and his struggle to live with dignity in the society.
As an experiment, short fiction and silent films were also shown, which included "Mr Fazili's wife" by Hassan Fazili and "Screaming Silence" by Fatima Hussaini from Afghanistan.
Fazili could not be at the festival as he fled Afghanistan in 2016 to Serbia after the Taliban threatened him with death over one of his movies. Both the films were represented by filmmaker Hassan Moosavi.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
Comments
Is this an election gimmick, this women was shot dead on 5-Sep, almost 6 months, the home Minister of Conning-ress & Sid Ra Miya has announced about 5 months ago that killers are identified, they mislead public by wrongly stating this group & that group has murdered her. Now what is this drama many of us know this womens poorvashrama & her high (flying) life in Delhi, why not some Naxalite deal gone wrong.
mastermind behind Gauri assasination was Notoriously Brilliant and the method and plan they use is too complex. Strange.. Hope siddu govt can solve this puzzle soon
I dont know Gauri mam directly. Even that also I have lot to say about her. Hope her killer will get punishment soon
Gauri was great brave activist. We miss her.
He might be a dummy
No followup of that alleged assasinator
Add new comment